Raymond

Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the GermanicRaginmund or Reginmund. "Ragin" (Old German) and "regin" (Gothic) meant "counsel." The Old High German "mund" originally meant "hand," but came to mean "protection." This etymology suggests that the name originated in the Early Middle Ages, possibly from Latin; meaning "King of the World".

Despite the German and French origins of the English name, some of its early uses in English documents appear in Latinized form. As a surname, its first recorded appearance in Britain appeared in 1086, during the reign of William the Conqueror, in the Domesday Book, with a reference to Giraldus Reimundus.

Today, all but three major-league teams have mascots (Angels, Dodgers and Yankees). Three team mascots — the Phillie Phanatic, Mr. Met, and Slider (Cleveland Indians) — have been inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame. Several others have been nominated since the Hall's creation in 2005.

Current mascots

Ace (Toronto Blue Jays)

Ace is the official mascot of the Toronto Blue Jays. He, along with his female counterpart, "Diamond" replaced former mascot BJ Birdie before the 2002 season as a mascot duo. Like his predecessor, Ace resembles a large blue jay. The mascot's name is baseball slang for a team's top starting pitcher (the "ace" of the staff, such as former Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay).